Stabilized bowl

ABSTRACT

Bowls containing food are used by persons who have deficiencies in manual control like infants, the elderly and the incapacitated. Serious accidents may result from spills of the contents of said bowls, in addition to posing a nuisance. The object of this invention is to stabilize said bowls by delimiting the position of the bowl when subjected to stresses related to the said manual deficiencies so that spillage does not occur. Specifically the bowls are stabilized by two suction cups temporarily attached to the bottom of the bowl and a fixed surface, respectively, by ambient air pressure; said cups have rods extending from the necks of the suction cups, respectively, that abut each other in a section of tubing. Thus the bowl has limited rotary motion about the initial central axis of the bowl to allow for involuntary fidgeting with the bowl without causing spills. The maximum diameter of the cup portion of the suction cups is less than the diameter of the flat surface of the bowl.

A schematic of the stabilized bowl is shown [FIG. 1]. The cup end [FIG. 2A] of a suction cup with one end of a rod [FIG. 2B] inserted into the neck of said suction cup [FIG. 2C] is attached by ambient atmospheric pressure manually attained to the flat underside of a bowl [FIG. 2D]; the other end of the rod is inserted into a short section of tubing [FIG. 2E]; one end of a second rod [FIG. 2F] is inserted in the opposite end of the tubing [FIG. 2E] so that the rods abut each other; the other end of the second rod [FIG. 2F] is inserted into the neck end of a second suction cup [FIG. 2G]; the cup end of this suction cup [FIG. 2H] is attached by manually attained atmospheric pressure to a fixed object [FIG. 2I].

FIGURES

FIG. 1. Schematic of stabilized bowl

FIG. 2. Schematic of stabilized bowl [exploded view]

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The flat underside of a bowl is 5 inches in diameter. The squeezed cups of the suction cups, diameter at maximum 3.74 in. are made of translucent silicone; the rods, 0.47 in. in diameter and 1.5 in. height, made of rigid plastic, are inserted, respectively, into each end of a 2 in. section of silicone tubing; one suction cup is attached to the bowl by ambient air pressure resulting from manually evacuating the air under the cup; the other cup is similarly attached to a table. The surfaces to which the suction cups are attached are flat. 

1. Suction cups, attached to the flat underside of a bowl and a fixed flat surface by manually attained atmospheric pressure with rigid rods extending from the necks of the suction cups, respectively, said rods co-joined by a short section of flexible tubing.
 2. The rigid rods co-joined by a short section of tubing of claim 1 wherein the rods are made of rigid plastic.
 3. The rigid rods co-joined by a short section of tubing wherein the tubing is made of silicone. 